Sufjan Stevens Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

If you don't already own Sufjan Stevens' Songs of Christmas box set, buy it immediately. That is all.

A finger, two dots then me.

While this month has not been kind to my friends or my family, this lifted me up.

Produced by Duality Filmworks and Write Bloody Publishing

Written and performed by Derrick Brown
Shot, cut and directed by David and Daniel Holechek

to be childlike

Mud Party!

This week, I was helping my four-year-old son into his pajamas, when he said, "Look mom, an owl!"

Sitting on a branch just outside our window was a big, beautiful Barred Owl. We called Lilly and Alan into the room and watched with wonder for a minute or two. We even called the neighbors so their toddler could see. At one point, the owl turned its head 90 degrees and looked right at us. It was magical. Jonny was so proud that he was the one who spotted the owl and he told everyone about it. I talked to him about all the things we miss because we don't pay attention and how it felt like God had sent that owl JUST for us :-) He said, "Pwobly God willy DID send that owl to our house. He pwobly wote, 'To Jonathan's house,' on its wing!"

Today in Sunday School we talked about what it means to be childlike. A friend told a story about a recent trip to the grocery store with her three-year-old. On their way back to the car, her daughter noticed a homeless man, disheveled and shoeless, standing in front of the store. She pointed and yelled, "Mommy, that man is Poooooooooor!" Her mom tried to divert her attention and asked her to lower her voice. Instead, she cried out, "But Mommy, he's REALLY Pooooor!! He's not wearing any SHOOOOOOES!" At this point, the man and my friend made eye contact and he asked if she had any food she would share with him. She asked if he liked yogurt and her daughter carefully picked out her favorite yogurt tube flavors to share with the hungry man. He was grateful, but expressed concern that he was taking food from the sweet girl. 

I have so much more to say, but the weather is incredible here today and my kids and I are headed to the park. Here's to being more childlike.

"Evening" by G.K. Chesterton

Here dies another day

During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

And the great world round me;

And with tomorrow begins another.

Why am I allowed two?

God is good

Ted Clark once described our church on NPR's All Things Considered. He said, "Oakhurst Presbyterian Church is unremarkable on the outside, but the congregation on the inside is quite remarkable. People from the most divergent backgrounds - middle class professionals, blue-collar and pink-collar workers, welfare recipients, old, young, and very young, black, white, Asian, gay and straight. All seem to feel comfortable there and speak their minds." Today we celebrated our church's 90th anniversary.

The following song is called "White Man" and it reminds me very much of our community of faith and the message at Oakhurst. We are all children of God. There are many other definitions that the world will  give us based on our skin color, sexual orientation, education level and economic status. At Oakhurst we're reminded that our primary definition is a child of God. There are no second class citizens at our church. Diversity is a gift.

The band, Gungor, hails from Denver, Colorado and the video was constructed entirely out of felt using a technique called stop motion. It was developed and directed by Goodwin Films.

"God is good, God is good, and he loves everyone."

Quote on parenting

"Remember you are not managing an inconvenience; you are raising a human being."

- Kittie Franz

Happy New Year!

1000 gifts continued. So much to be thankful for.

#4 Autumn leaves

#5 For views out windows. It's one of the things that made me fall in love with our home. So many windows. I love watching as the view changes from season to season.

#6 For this church of ours. I didn't grow up going to church, nor did I really understand why people went to church, until I found this one. The perfect fit.

#7 Our church has 2 choirs, the Sanctuary Mass Choir, which sings African American gospel music, and the Chancel Choir (pictured), which sings more traditional hymns. This year, the Chancel Choir sang Handel's Messiah and it was SO beautiful, impressive, and moving. 

#8 We scored FREE tickets to The Nutcracker this year!! Best seats we've ever had too.

#9 Handmade Christmas cards. I never even get around to mailing store-bought cards, but I SO appreciate these handmade cards my friend Kathy makes each year. She started sending them to me in 2002 and they now fill our mantle each Christmas.

#10 The perfect-sized Christmas tree for our little parlor. It, along with our new wall paint color, up-cycled wreath made out of wool sweaters, and handmade Christmas cards made for such a festive living room this year.

#11 A white Christmas for us in North Carolina. We got 9 inches of snow when all was said and done. Alan's childhood friend, Clif, his wife, Trish, and their 3 kids joined us. We saw so many of Alan's good friends during this visit.

#12 Lilly went up and down this hill dozens of times.

#13 A girl and her pal, CJ

#14 I love to watch my daughter dance. She's so graceful, so unselfconscious.

#15 Comice pears are like candy. Juice, sweet, and so good in a salad with goat cheese, pecans, and pomegranate arils.

#16 This one is odd, I know. I'm grateful for the stroller cluttering up my front porch. I know I won't need it much longer.

#16 Old friends. My lovely college roommate came through town with her husband and their son. She still looks like she's in college, but I won't hold that against her. I need to spend more time with old friends. I miss them so.

Sunday quote of the day

"When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people."


by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Some things I love

Freshly painted rooms. Our dining room used to be red and the living room was beige. Thanks to my husband's mad-painting skills, both rooms are now painted Blue Gray by Farrow & Ball. Only 2 stores in Atlanta even sell F&B, but you can order it online if you can stomach the shipping costs. It contains no plastics, zero VOCs, is a clay-based paint and the formula has been the same since 1946. It's pricey, at over $80 a gallon, but in my opinion is worth every penny. The Blue Gray color is warm and has much more depth to it than the picture shows. It almost has a slight green undertone and goes REALLY well with our cream trim & olive green built-ins.

I love that Lil still loves to fall asleep in her Granddad's lap, even though she's nearly as tall as he is.

I love my new bangs!

 I love Autumn and this little boy with his bright red hair.

I love my little girl's toothless grin, even though it reminds me she's not so little anymore.

Siblings - what a gift!

Lil and Jonathan now play together. She runs back and forth down the hall and he scrambles to crawl after her. His eyes light up when we pick sister up from school. Jonathan is a treasure to us all and I believe he's the most important gift we could have given Lillian. Watching their relationship develop is one of the most beautiful things I've witnessed.

We miss you, old friend

One year ago today we said goodbye to our sweet dog, Simon. He was 17 years old and had spent 16 of those years with my husband, Alan. When we first met, Al and I would take him on long walks around Candler Park and without fail, Simon would cut in front of me and suddenly stop, apparently trying to trip me. The rivalry grew fierce when he had to give up his spot in the passenger seat of the pickup truck. He didn't hold a grudge for long and we eventually bonded, but Alan would forever remain his favorite.

When I was pregnant with our first child, I heard about a couple who had to find their dog a new home because their baby was allergic to him. I asked Alan what we would do if that happened to us and in a matter-of-fact tone he responded, "I'm sure we'll find a good home for the baby." Lucky for our daughter that wasn't the case and for the next four years Simon and Lilly were like siblings. Sister would pull her big brother's hair and he would take all the blame. Her first word wasn't Dada or Mama, it was Baba, which is apparently baby talk for dog. We, too, started referring to Simon as Baba and he began responding to it. As Lil's speech developed, his nickname changed to Doe Doe, then Dohg Dohg, then Fighme. 

I took the little things for granted. It used to irritate me when he'd rub up against my leg and leave a patch of dog hair on my freshly washed pants. Now I celebrate when I find bits of his hair in unexpected places. It was impossible to cook with him standing right under me in our tiny kitchen, but he was the only one who helped me mop the floor after dinner. I long to hear his footsteps, the way his toe nails would click, click, click on the hardwood floors. I miss knowing there was always someone to come home to. We miss you, old friend, dog hair and all.

My morning gift

Baby Jonathan woke me up before the sun this morning. I guess he didn't want to miss this.